Engine starting mechanism



July 7, 1936. R. P. LANSING ENGINE STARTING MECHANISM Filed NOV. 25, 1931 2 Sheets Sheet l INVENTOR Paymazm 1 Law/27y BY 4774,,

@ZORNEY July 7, 1936. R. P. LANSING ENGINE STARTING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 25, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Faymazm P lava/7y Patented July 7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ENGINE STARTING MECHANISM NewJersey Application November 25, 1931, Serial No. 577,351

2 Claims.

This invention relates to starting devices for internal combustion engines, and more particularly to a starter of the torque transmitting type.

An object of the invention is to provide a starter of the normally disengaged type embodying a novel method and means for drivably connecting the torque transmitting-apparatus to a member of the engine to; be started.

A further object of the invention is to provide an inertia starter embodying novel driving means for operatively' connecting thefiywheel, or other inertia element, with the engine member to be rotated, whereby the energy stored in the flywheel may be imparted to said engine member over a relatively long period.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel starter of the inertia type which is completely self-contained, and the inertia element of which is preferably mounted above and supported on a part of the engine housing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel inertia starter which is particularly adapted for use in starting outboard motors of the type now extensively employed on small boats.

A further object is to provide a starter of novel construction in which rotary movement is imparted to the engine through normally disengaged members which are first started in rotation and are then drawn toward the axis of rotation of the engine member to engage the peripheral surface thereof.

Another object of the invention isto provide novel means for actuating the inwardly moving driving members above described so as to insure continued rotation thereof after movement from their outer disengaged position into operative frictional contact with a memberof the engine to be started.

Another object is to provide in a manually op erated engine starting mechanism employing an inertia element in which inertia is stored for subsequent transmission to a member of the engine to be started, novel means for controlling the establishment of driving relation between the inertia element and engine member, said means being opposed by yieldab-le elements insuring a disen gagement of the starting mechanism immediately upon development of self-operating power in the engine.

Other objects of the invention reside in the construction and inter-relation of parts; and will become apparent from inspection of the following specification when read with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein one embodiment of the invention is illustrated; but it is to be ex-' pressly understood that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only, and are not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a view in elevation with portions in section, of a device embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the engine engaging mechanism as seen along the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device with a portion of the axis broken away to show the interior construction as seen along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view along line 4-4 of Fig. 3. 7

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the invention is shown applied to an engine having a centrally disposed drum or flywheel 5 held in position to rotate with a centrally disposed shaft 6 which is in connection with or may be an integral part of the engine crankshaft, the said shaft 6 being preferably threaded and of reduced diameter at its upper end 1 for reception of a retaining nut B. The novel starting mechanism associated with these parts of the engine proper, preferably include a housing having two sections l l and i2, the latter being substantially cylindrical and preferably constituting a part of the enclosure means for the engine proper as well as the engine engaging mechanism of the starter. At its upper end, the section i2 is closed completely except for openings for reception of certain of the moving parts of the mechanism, such closure means being in the form of a horizontally disposed plate I4, which, as shown, is integral with the cylindrical portion l2. At the outer edges of the overhanging portion l5, which is reinforced by suitable stiffening web It, there is provided a dowel pin or equivalent means ll facilitating the proper registry of the casing section I2 with the upper section I I, the two sections being fastened by additional means such as the-screws l8 threadedly engaging angularly spaced openings in the plate I l and the flange l9 located at the base of section II. Section II is of a quasi elliptical formation with the lateral surfaces intermediate the rounded ends disposed in parallelism, indicated best in Fig. 3; and like the section l2, has an upper horizontally disposed surface 22 integral therewith and apertured at three points at which points the casing extends outwardly to form cylindrical hubs or bosses 23, 24 and 25 (Figs. 1 and 4) the boss 26 constituting a support for the manual energizing means now to be described.

The means for manually storing energy in the starting mechanism to be subsequently employed at the will of the operator for the purpose of imparting initial rotation to the engine member 5, is preferably constituted by an inertia member 21 adapted to be rotated at high speed through suitable gearing drivably connected to a detachable cranking member 28, the gearing being preferably divided into two or more stages. For this purpose, the cranking member 28 is adapted to engage a cup-shaped member 39 having a portion of its inner surface threadedly engaged with the threaded end 3! of the hub 32 of a horizontally disposed spur gear 33, the latter being adapted to mesh with an intermediate spur gear 34 (Figs. 3 and 4) which in turn meshes with a pinion 35 keyed to a hollow vertically disposed shaft 35 by suitable means as, for example, the provision of registering milled surfaces provided on the shaft and central opening of the pinion, as indicated at 39 in Fig. 3. The gear 34 is rotatably suspended with its stub shaft 31 (Fig. 4) on a ball bearing assembly 38 resting on the boss 25, above referred to.

The shaft 36, as shown, is provided with a flange 40 at its lower end, the said flange being riveted or otherwise suitably secured, as indicated at 4|, to a relatively large spur gear 42 which is in turn meshed with a pinion 44 held in place against shoulder 46 on a stub shaft 41 by suitable means preferably constituted by a retaining washer 48 and a lock nut 49 threadedly engaging the threaded end 59 of the stub shaft 41. The shaft 41 is provided with additional shoulders 5| and 52, the latter resting on a supporting bearing 53, the former supporting a split retaining ring 51 for the inner ball race, while the outer is supported by a retaining disc 54 which is held to a boss 55 formed on the plate M by suitable fastening means 56. At its upper end the shaft is flanged, as indicated at 58, the said flange being secured by suitable means 59 to the web 60 of the inertia element 21, the latter being shown in the form of a unitary flywheel of suitable mass and weight for the intended purpose.

From the foregoing it is apparent that upon imparting rotation to the cup-shaped member 30, through application thereto of a hand crank constituted by an arm 64 secured to the flange 65 on the upper end of the cylinder 28, the flywheel 21 will be gradually accelerated to the desired speed through the speed multiplying gearing above described. During such accelerating process, the

shaft 4'! turns freely on the bearing member 53, which also serves as the supporting means for the pinion 44, while the gear 42, shaft 36, and pinion 35 are supported on the hub 23 by means to be further described. The gear 33 is in turn supported for free rotation relatively to the hub 24 by suitable means including preferably a ball bearing assembly 68 interposed between the gear hub 32- and a sleeve 69 having a flange 10 at its upper end adapted to rest upon the upper edge of the hub 24 and further adapted to support a ball bearing assembly ll upon which the horizontally disposed section 12 of the inverted cupshaped member 30 rotates. The projection F3 on cup 30, and the correspondingly notched lower end M of the crank sleeve 28, afford means for positive connection between the crank and the cup 39, while at the same time permitting ready removal of the crank at the end of the flywheel spinning process.

The novel means for operatively connecting the flywheel 21, after the desired amount of energy has been stored therein, to the engine member 5, includes a plurality of vertically disposed posts 15, shown in Fig. 1 in the form of bolts, the heads of which rest in depressions provided at angularly spaced intervals upon the surface of gear 42, the under-surface of the gear being strengthened at such points by formation of hubs, as indicated at 16. These posts 15 are adapted to support the arms of a plurality of (as shown, two) engine-engaging members in the form of arcuate plates or shoes Bl, the relation of these to the arms 89 and the posts 15 being best shown in Fig. 2. As there shown, the arms 80 are disposed in parallelism on opposite sides of the center of the gear 42, the latter being on the axis of rotation of the engine member 5.

Preferably the curvature of the depending rim 84 (Fig. 1) is substantially that of the engine member 5 and the disposition of the shoes BI is such that these rims 84 are normally disposed in spaced relation to the periphery of the engine member 5, as indicated in Fig. 2. In order to maintain this spaced relation until such time as the manual means to be described are operated to drivably connect the shoes 8| with the drum 5, a pair of tension springs 81 are provided, there being such a spring connecting one end of each of the shoes 8| with its corresponding supporting post 15. Thus the tendency of each spring is to draw one end of its shoe toward the surfaceof the drum 5, which tendency causes the major portion of the rim to remain spaced apart from the surface of the drum. Attached to each arm 80 is a projecting lug or finger 89, these fingers being disposed in parallelism, as indicated in Fig. 2, with their adjacent faces beveled at an angle corresponding to the angle of inclination of a conical member 90 (Fig. 1) to be further described. Each of the arms 80 is further provided with an opening 93 permitting its being positioned upon the corresponding supporting post 15 about which its free oscillation is facilitated by the provision of bearing sleeves 94. Suitable retaining nuts 95 are provided for threaded engagement with the lower ends of the posts 15, and thus serve to retain the arms 80 in position.

The manually operated means for pressing the shoes 8| inwardly to drivably connect the flywheel with the engine for transmission thereto of the necessary starting torque, comprise, in addition to the. conical member 90, a rod 92 preferably integral therewith and slidable within the sleeve 36, the latter having a threaded upper end 91 for attachment of retaining means 98 adapted to rest on the upper surface of the bearing sleeve 99, which in turn is flanged for supporting engagement with the above described hub 23 which thus constitutes the ultimate means for rotatably supporting both the shaft 36 and the pinion 35. At the upper end, the rod 92 is rotatably secured by suitable means I00 to a knob ID! of suitable form to be manually depressed to wedge conical end 90 between the fingers 89 against the action of a compression spring I02 which normally maintains the rod in the position indicated in Fig. 1.

When it is desired to start the engine, the crank 64 is manually actuated to store a sufficient amount of energy in the flywheel 21 through the speed multiplying gearing above described, the path of transmission being from the cupshaped member 30 to the gears 33, 34 and 35, thence to the shaft 36 and from said shaft to the flywheel by way of gears 42 and 44. When the flywheel has been accelerated to the proper speed, the crank 64 is removed and the operator presses upon the knob liil to wedge the member 90 between the fingers 89, which are thus caused to move apart with the result that the rotating arms and shoes 8| swing about the pivot posts 15 and effect frictional contact with the periphery of the engine member 5, the springs 81 being placed under greater tension by such action. The rotary movement imparted to the engine by this means causes a starting thereof under its own power, whereupon the operator releases the pressure on the knob NH and permits the spring we to return the rod 92 and the wedging member to their inoperative positions, as shown in Fig. 1. Springs 81 are then effective to separate the shoes 8| from contact with the engine member 5 and tohold the shoes out of contact thereafter, the outward movement being limited by the interposition of the cone 9]! between the fingers 89. All parts of the starter mechanism come to rest as soon as the residual energy of the flywheel is dissipated.

During the cranking operation, the energy stored in the flywheel will be transferred to the engine member 5 through only the second stage of gearing; that is the gearing shown at 44 and 132. permits continued cranking of the engine from the flywheel at a speed intermediate the initial flywheel accelerating speed and the maximum speed of the flywheel. Thus it is possible to secure a reasonably high speed of rotation for a sufficiently long period to insure starting of the engine under its own power.

There is thus provided a novel engine starter of the inertia type which is simple and rugged in structure, inexpensive to manufacture, and efiicient in operation. It is especially adapted for use with small engines because of its compactness and light weight, but since it is a selfcontained unit it may be easily attached to any engine, and requires no external supporting means, the whole unit in the embodiment shown being mounted within an extension of the engine housing.

This is of particular advantage in that it If desired, the invention may be embodied in a power operating starter either with or without the equivalent of an inertia element 21. Moreover, the means shown for swinging the shoes 8| into engagement with the engine member may be varied in form and method of operation, and the shoes may be made to engage with the engine crankshaft itself, or other members of smaller diameter than the flywheel 5; although the application of these shoes to the flywheel '5 has the advantage that a larger frictional area of contact is thus provided.

It is to be understood that various other changes may be made in the form, details of description, arrangement of parts and the uses to which they are applied, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In .a starter of the type adapted to impart initial rotary movement to an engine member, the combination with said engine member of a plurality of driving, shoes having concave friction surfaces movable into engagement with said engine member, inertia means for rotating said shoes about a common axis, and means including a gear coaxial with said engine member for drivably connecting said inertia means with the inner surfaces of said driving shoes, said gear also serving as the common supporting means for all said driving shoes.

2. In an engine starting apparatus, in combination, an engine member, an engine engaging member normally rotatable about the axis of said engine member but in a path of greater radius than that of said engine member and a driving member also rotatable about said axis, said engine engaging members being suspended from said driving member for rotation therewith, said engine engaging member having a projection extending inwardly toward. said axis, and means engageable With said projectionfor drivably connecting said engine engaging member with said engine member.

RAYMOND P. LANSING. 

